Wheee.. a Wii

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

My wife never ceases to amaze me, but she is dropping hints about what she wants for her birthday come April. If you only knew how out of character this was.... but she wants a Wii system. Yes, she's a demure 57 year old woman with absolutely no "toys" to her name (except the ones that sparkle and go "bling"), and she wants a Wii for her birthday. I think this came about after our last visit to the grandkids -- she became a rock star (I got knocked out in the 2nd round by my 5 y.o. granddaughter).

So, what do I need to know? Are they still almost impossible to find? Any worthy competitors I should look at? Best places to look? Different models to know about? Heelllp.

 

[ziggy29]

They are very difficult to find. You might start here:

Nintendo Wii Tracker - Find Nintendo Wii In Stock Online

It is VERY hard to get just the console itself for the typical $250 price tag. It's considerably easier if you're willing to pay close to $400 and up for a "bundle."

 

[Marquette]

There's one model. I'm sorry, but I sold mine already... otherwise I would have sold it to you for a fair price.

No worthy competitors. Nintendo has long been out of the running for "best-looking, most stunning titles" but they've nailed the "game as a game" (rather than "game as entertainment") formula. The Wii is easily the most entertaining group gaming system around.

Make sure you have enough controllers to go around and, for kicks, check out the Wii Fit.

Oh, the Will does have an ability to take the previous gen (GameCube) controllers and games. So, you might be able to pick up some of the older fun titles as well.

I'd highly recommend the Raymon (I had Raving Rabbits) games and Mario Kart... should both be appropriate even for the younger age group. There are some great kids titles too.

 

[FinanceDude]

There's a moratorium in my house on ANY game system. I guess I am just an old school dad that is "no fun at all"...........

Of course, my friend complains all the time that his 14-year old son and his buddies spend all the beautiful summer days playing "Call of Duty" in the basement in the dark, but I digress..........

 

[Marquette]

Heh, my parents complained that I spent all of my time indoors reading. So, I started reading outside.

What is it with you parents and insisting that we spend our time outside? You're not farmers for goodness sake, you don't need to make sure we have time to pasture.

 

[haha]

So, what do I need to know? Are they still almost impossible to find? Any worthy competitors I should look at? Best places to look? Different models to know about? Heelllp.

I would say that if she wants a Wii, that is what she wants. There really are no competitors, and if she asked for a Wii what I would do is get her one.

Ha

 

[Moemg]

Amazon.com: Wii

 

[FUEGO]

seems like a fun toy for non-serious gamers. get her a wii. It does have a novel interface that no other system really has done a good job at.

 

[Zathras]

Target sells the Wii alone without a bundle. You just have to stop in some morning when they get a shipment in.
Toys R Us only sells bundles. Stay away from the bundles, just buy the games you want. I second the suggestion of Mario Kart, great fun.
Wii Sports (which comes with the console) is also great fun

 

[Nords]

There's a moratorium in my house on ANY game system. I guess I am just an old school dad that is "no fun at all"...........

Hey, it's the only way to get your teens to leave the house!

They'll go use the game systems at their friend's houses.

When the parents aren't home. With booze & smokes and other party-minded kids. You know, like we did when we were being raised by OUR old-school parents...

 

[clifp]

Wii's are great.

I especially like Wii Fit, way cheaper than a Gym membership and more fun also.
I bought my via Cragslist paid $30 over list but no tax so almost a wash. They were lots advertised on Craigslist.

 

[FIREd]

We bought a Wii a few months ago after looking for one for months at Best Buy and Circuit City. I finally found one on Amazon. As it turns out, our Target down the street had a few for sale but we never thought of going there to buy one. My wife is addicted to "Guitar Hero" and right now I can't stop playing "We Ski". I have never been a gamer but I love the Wii. It's also a lot of fun when we have people over.

 

[Brat]

I am interested in Wii Fit (I NEED it), but am out of the loop on this stuff. So, what should I purchase and where should I look for all the bits and pieces to make it function?

 

[clifp]

You need a Wii Console, available at your local electronics store or Walmart if you are lucky. (You generally can call every day for a week and find one). Or via Craigslist or online if you don't mind paying a premium.

Then you need to buy Wii Fit for $80, not horribly hard to find but not easy. Then you need to use it for 30 minutes a day, the tough part!

 

[whitestick]

I have had no interest in buying or playing the games available for over 10 years, but the Wii forced me to spend the money to buy it and set it up in our main TV room - the larger the TV the better, and be sure to allow plenty of walking around room in front of the TV. The bowling game (included) is a lot of fun, and pretty close to reality. The tennis game (included) will wear you out, especially at the upper levels. Mario Kart (recommended by others, but you may want to consider purchasing an additional drivers wheel - about $19 by itself) is pure decadence fun - climb behind a motorcycle, and race your DW or other competitive person in their sport car around a track. Warning! if you play this one against the computer at anything beyond beginner level, it will embarrass you. I think that's the reason they require you to wear the wrist straps, not that you might lose the controller, but that you might throw it at the TV.
I sprung for the external rechargable battery systems and the wireless controls, (I think it was about 60, but don't remember), which lets me set the controllers by the chairs, and only have to have a virtually invisible pickup on the top of the TV - I keep the console player and the extra games in a side cabinet by the TV.
Between the wife, our kids, and the grandkids, it provides entertainment for all ages.
Caveat! I tried the Guitar Hero thing, but we just couldn't get into it, YMMV

 

[NotReady4Purple]

I Love Wii Sports (Try the boxing. Even more of a workout than the Tennis.) I am also a Guitar Hero Fan.

Still looking to buy Wii Fit as well.

The previous video game I bought was the Atari (PacMan time frame).

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Just walked into target a few months ago and there was a pallet of them. Paid $250.

We've been a little busy with the home improvements lately, but my son and I both enjoy the motion controllers. Gabe likes playing golf and baseball.

Costco often sells bundles and packages for sane prices, both in store and online.

The difficulty to find them is pretty straightforward. Nintendo is getting a much more favorable exchange rate selling them in asia and europe than against the US dollar. So all we're getting is what they cant sell anywhere else.

 

[Nords]

Then you need to buy Wii Fit for $80, not horribly hard to find but not easy. Then you need to use it for 30 minutes a day, the tough part!

Now you have me curious about the martial-arts market.

For less than the cost of a month's training, just strapping a sensor to each extremity and letting the machine monitor my forms would be worth the money...

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Boxing is great on the Wii so is bowling. Specially when you tip a few..ahem

 

[bssc]

Must be something in the water. My wife also asked for a Wii for her birthday. And she never plays video games. Just got her one through Wii Alerts. They also just came up on Amazon a few hours ago, if I had known...

 

[igsoy]

I've had one for some time, now. I can't seem to get the boxing to work very well, but I love the tennis!

Just added the Wii Fit a month ago and I love the yoga challenge, where you have to keep your pose balanced within an onscreen range of movement to score your points.

That MarioKart sounds fun.

I haven't had a new system since the original playstation, but this sounded too fun to pass up.

 

[NotReady4Purple]

On the boxing, I found that the position of the controller is not intuitive.

Try a couple of things:
1) Vary the position of the Wii-mote contoller, parallel to the floor and perpendicular to the floor.
2) Try rotating the contoller fast from vertical to horizontal as you swing.

The kinds of punches are different and you may get better control with one (or more) of these.

 

[igsoy]

Oh, thanks for the tips, NR, will try it that way.

 

[W2R]

Is there any "downside" of ordering one off Amazon?

How can I know if I will receive my Wii from an Amazon vendor in a reasonable amount of time, or if the order will be filled (and my credit card charged) in, say, six months or a year, after I have already purchased one elsewhere? Could that happen?

I can't seem to get one in a bricks and mortar store, since I work and can't seem to get away to run to a store on a moment's notice before shipments are sold. I tried a while back, but three hours after the store opened they were out.

Consequently I have been thinking of waiting a couple of years to get one, in hopes that they will be more easily available by then. However, if I could get one off Amazon that could be fun.

 

[Moemg]

I've ordered a lot of big items from Amazon retailers and have always gotten my items quickly . The only vendor I ever had problems with was Target.com.. I don't think Amazon would have them listed if they were not available . I sell books on Amazon and you have to ship them in two days and if you don't have the item you have to refund quickly .